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Ravenswood was originally built and owned by Consolidated Edison of New York Inc. (Con Edison) in 1963. The first two units constructed in 1963 were Ravenswood 10 and 20, each having a generating capacity of approximately 385 megawatts. Then, in 1965, Ravenswood 30 (commonly called "Big Allis") was commissioned with a generating capacity of nearly 981 megawatts. In the 1970s, multiple combustion turbine units were installed in a simple cycle configuration to meet peak power demands. Two 2030 MWth(500 MWe) nuclear reactors were planned to begin operation on the site in 1970, but they were cancelled due to controversy and safety concerns.

Due to deregulation of the energy markets in New York State, Con Edison was required to sell all of its "in-city" generating stations in New York City including Ravenswood. In 1999, Con Edison transferred ownership of Ravenswood to KeySpan Energy (KeySpan) for $597 million.[4] In 2004, KeySpan constructed a new unit, Ravenswood 40, using combined cycle technology with generating capacity of 250 megawats.

National Grid plc acquired KeySpan in 2007[5] but due to its involvement in electrical transmission the New York Public Service Commission required National Grid to sell Ravenswood to ensure competition in the market. So on August 26, 2008, Ravenswood was sold by National Grid to TransCanada Corporation for $2.9 Billion.[6] Trans Canada has put Ravenswood up for sale. Ravenswood was sold to LS Power/Helix Energy Solutions Group with Ethos power running it.[7][8][9] In 2018, Helix Generation LLC filed a lawsuit against TransCanada Facility USA Inc. for allegedly fraudulently misleading Helix prior to the sale.[10]

Ravenswood is located in Long Island City in Queens, New York, across from Roosevelt Island. The site is connected to the New York City electrical system through the 138 kV Vernon substation and the 345 kV Rainey substation.[11] It is capable of producing 2,480MW of energy.[2]

Ravenswood No. 3, also known as Unit 30 or Big Allis, is a natural gas facility at Ravenswood Generating Station owned by LS Power and operated by IHI Corporation Energy Services. During 1963, Allis-Chalmers announced that ConEd had ordered the "world's first MILLION-KILOWATT unit...big enough to serve 3,000,000 people." This sheer scale helped the plant become popularly known as "Big Allis". During the Northeast blackout of 1965, the bearings of the Allis-Chalmers Turbine were damaged. The lube oil pumps were hooked up to the electrical grid, thus shutting them down during the blackout and causing bearing damage.[13][14]

At the time of its installation, it was the world's largest steam energy generating facility. It is located on the Ravenswood site, consisting of Units 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as several small gas turbines (GTs), and an oil depot. The site overall produces about 2,500 MW, or approximately 20% of New York City's current energy consumption.[15] It was retrofitted to burn some coal and oil in 1983.[16] In 2011, Big Allis burned 97% natural gas, 2% coal and 1% oil (used as backup fuels).